Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the German Shepherd Dog Forums forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

OR

Log-in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Additional Options

Miscellaneous Options

Automatically parse links in text

Automatically embed media (requires automatic parsing of links in text to be on).

Automatically retrieve titles from external links

Topic Review (Newest First)

01-05-2014 03:04 PM

Stevenzachsmom

I agree about the allergy testing. After feeding my foster the ground beef, All Bran and pumpkin, I gradually added in a limited ingredient dog food. Less ingredients - less chance of allergies. I fed Wellness Simple, but there are other limited ingredient dog foods. They are also grain-free.

I agree with the fecal. If it were my dog, I would have him vet checked. I am not as concerned about the diarrhea as I am the vomiting. I have brought in new dogs and fosters who who had upset stomachs. They weren't throwing up. Stay away from chicken. My GSD had allergies to chicken.

My foster had diarrhea when I got him. I fed him a mixture of cooked, well drained ground beef and All Bran cereal. I topped it off with a spoonful of canned pumpkin. It works like a charm. My vet recommended this to me years ago. I have never had it not work - even on other breeds. Chicken and rice has never worked for my dogs.

Okay! Thanks for the tips. I've heard allergy testing is very expensive or I'd just have him tested for a chicken allergy.. The beef/cereal/pumpkin mixture sounds like a good idea.

01-05-2014 01:47 AM

Stevenzachsmom

I agree with the fecal. If it were my dog, I would have him vet checked. I am not as concerned about the diarrhea as I am the vomiting. I have brought in new dogs and fosters who who had upset stomachs. They weren't throwing up. Stay away from chicken. My GSD had allergies to chicken.

My foster had diarrhea when I got him. I fed him a mixture of cooked, well drained ground beef and All Bran cereal. I topped it off with a spoonful of canned pumpkin. It works like a charm. My vet recommended this to me years ago. I have never had it not work - even on other breeds. Chicken and rice has never worked for my dogs.

01-05-2014 12:55 AM

Magwart

I'd ask the vet to run a fecal test on him -- whenever I see a new rescue with diarrhea, the first thought here is usually "worms" because we see that so often at the shelter. Even if you can't see the worms in the poop, they might still be there. Hooks and whips and some common bacterial infections can all cause BAD diarrhea, and you can't diagnose them without a vet's help.

Do you have contact info for the foster home? If so, I would call and ask what they were feeding, and whether this diarrhea has been going on a while. That's info that will help your vet figure this out.

I have always fed scraps and trimmings, so did my mom and grandparents. I stay away from some things that don't agree with the dogs, but we prepare healthy food in my house. There's no reason in my book that the dogs shouldn't benefit from that as well.

David Winners

They fed him bad scraps, i.e. leftover McDonalds.. Unsuitable "people food" wouldn't be good for any dog, but since you said you guys prepare healthy food, I don't see anything wrong with it. I'm a vegetarian so I don't ever have leftover meat unless I specifically go out to buy him some meat like I did while I was feeding him chicken and rice.

01-05-2014 12:37 AM

David Winners

I have always fed scraps and trimmings, so did my mom and grandparents. I stay away from some things that don't agree with the dogs, but we prepare healthy food in my house. There's no reason in my book that the dogs shouldn't benefit from that as well.

David Winners

01-05-2014 12:18 AM

Sunflowers

It is canned pumpkin, not sweet potato, that could help with firming up stool. Sweet potato has too much sugar and may actually make things worse.

Yes, Blue is great, but many dogs can't take it. Perhaps go to Dog Food Advisor and check out some other foods.

how long have you been giving him the chicken and rice. Sometimes it takes a little while for them to get regular.you can also try lean hamburger and white rice but I think the chicken has less fat.

I gave it to him for about 4 days with the same results as when he eats kibble.. :s I hope it isn't a chicken allergy because his dog food is chicken flavored, too. The people we got him from fed him a lot of scraps..

If he doesn't have any apparent symptoms of lethargy or any abnormalities you shouldn't worry about it. It's definitely related to the diet mainly and the new environment. He's 18 months old so he's digestive system is used to a certain type of kibble ingredients for a long time. I suggest mixing raw food in his food and completely transition to a raw diet but if you can't just give him time to get used to it approximately 2 months. You need to give him an additional supplement like (Nutri-Pet Research Nupro Dog Supplement)you can find it on Amazon.

He isn't lethargic at all really. But yes, I am aiming to put him on a raw diet and ditch the kibble. I've heard great things about it. If I'm unable to switch him over to raw at the time, you do think he will do fine on the kibble after 2 months until I get him switched over to raw?

Tummy issues take time. It sounds like you have done a lot in a very short period.

I would suggest overcooked white rice, soupy and mushy, until you get a log poop. This may take a couple of days. Then add a small amount of cooked white chicken with no fat to the same rice. Gradually, over 3 days or so, increase the amount of chicken until you reach half chicken, half rice. If at any time you get loose stools, take a step back and let his gut settle.

After you get solid poop on the chicken and rice mixture, start substituting a small amount of the chicken with the BB kibble. Go through the same steps as before, gradually upping the amount of kibble and decreasing the amount of chicken and rice until you are on all kibble.

If at any time the gut gets inflamed again, you have to step back and allow things to settle. If the BB proves to be too rich, you may have to search for a lower protein and fat content food to feed.

Gut problems are rarely remedied in a couple of days time. Every time you switch his diet up, you run the risk of aggravating the gut again and starting all over. Patience is the key.

I would also recommend a vet visit to rule out any issues that may be contributing to the problem.

Good luck! And I hope your pup is feeling better soon.

I'm going to try to take him to the vet Monday- I'll keep this updated. (: Thanks for the helpful information! If it isn't some sort of medical issue, I'll know 100% the diet change is likely the cause and I'll try your advice.

This thread has more than 10 replies.
Click here to review the whole thread.